Avatar: The Drowning Sun
by Scarlet Grizzly
Summary: Korra is an ordinary waterbender living at the edge of the Empire, but when her village is destroyed, she discovers that she has the power to bring peace to the world. AU
1. Book 1: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra.**

 _Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world. Years ago, Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the Fire Nation's war on the rest of the world. However, the Crown Princess Azula escaped and took direct control of the colonies the Fire Nation had established, forming the Sun Empire and continuing her forefathers' mission of global domination. Although Avatar Aang continued to fight for the remainder of his life, he never managed to restore peace to the world._

* * *

 **Book One: Earth**

"Korra!" The man's voice snapped. "Korra, you lazy seal-hog, where's that herb I asked for?"

"I left it on the counter, you cranky lobster-crab!" Korra shouted back, heaving the heavy crate of supplies onto a shelf. She smirked at the grumble she got in response. Wiping her brow, Korra left the storage shed and went into the main room of the store. Sighting a bag full of sea prunes, she snagged one and popped it into her mouth, savoring the salty sweet taste.

"Those are for patients, not greedy, good-for-nothing apprentices, you know." Korra's master crossed his arms.

"And what about hardworking, underpaid, totally awesome apprentices?" Korra grinned.

Yakone rubbed his brow. "I wouldn't know, I've never had one of those. Perhaps you'd prefer it if I paid you entirely in sea prunes?"

"NO!" Korra's eyes widened in horror. Yakone was a fair, if tough master, but she wouldn't put it past him to do such a thing as a joke. He had a rather strange sense of humor. And as much as she loved sea prunes, she'd rather be paid in actual money.

Yakone laughed loudly. He rarely managed to outwit his headstrong apprentice and daughter, and he enjoyed these rare victories even more as a result. He turned back to the young boy sitting on the bench. "Now, what happened with you, little one?"

"I burned my hand." The boy sniffled, holding out his blistered fingers. "I was playing and I tripped and fell into the cooking fire."

"I see." Yakone reached out to the nearby barrel of water, bending some out of it over to the boy's hand. The water surrounded his hand in a globe and began to glow brightly. Within seconds, the pain faded and the boy sighed in relief. Yakone bent the water away, and handed the boy a sea prune. "Now, you be careful, Akko. Try not to play around the fire next time."

"Okay. Thanks Mr. Yakone!" The boy jumped off the bench and ran off. He sidestepped the young man entering the store on his way out.

"Tarrlok! You're back!" Korra ran over and tackle-hugged her older brother.

"Oof!" Tarrlok grunted in surprise, dropping his bag. "I'm glad to see you too, Korra."

"I'm glad you're back, but you are quite early, son." Yakone scratched at his thick gray sideburns. "Hunting not good, I take it?"

"Nah, the Empire's scared off all the game. It's gonna be a rough week, eating only fish and sea prune stew." Tarrlok grumbled.

"Hey!" Korra exclaimed. "Sea prune stew is good!"

"Not everyone can live off sea prunes entirely like you do, Korra." Tarrlok patted his sister's head. Though she was muscular and tall for a sixteen-year-old girl, she still only came up to his shoulder. "And I did manage to get a couple of Komodo chickens."

"Komodo chickens?" Yakone raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "You'd have to have traveled pretty far south to catch one of those."

Tarrlok shrugged. "Who says I caught them? I stole it from a Sun Empire raiding party."

"What?!" Yakone roared. "Tarrlok, you fool! You could have been caught and killed!"

"But I wasn't!" Tarrlok crossed his arms. "Those soldiers wouldn't have done anything anyways, they were conscripted earthbenders. They probably hate the Empire as much as we do!"

"Tarrlok." Yakone put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I've already lost your brother and mother to the Empire. I don't want to lose you too."

* * *

Nothing more was said of Tarrlok's reckless actions. The Komodo chickens were eaten quickly, to get rid of the evidence. Fortunately, no battalion of the Empire's forces came to the village looking for him. Though their village was on the outskirts of the Empire, located on what was formerly the northern coastline of the Earth Kingdom, the army was known to show up fairly often.

A few months later however, the soldiers came anyways.

"Attention!" The man seated atop the Komodo rhino was dressed in full armor, the color of his helmet denoting his rank as a sergeant. "By decree of Empress Azula, all able bodied men between the ages of fifteen and thirty are to serve in the Sun Empire Army. Should any resist or choose to ignore their duty to their ruler, they shall be executed."

"That's a pile of shit!" A familiar voice shouted. Korra's blood froze. She watched in horror as her brother pushed his way forward to the soldier on the rhino. "We don't owe your ruler anything! All she's done is take from us! First our land, then our money, now our people? How much more till you bleed us dry?!"

"Tarrlok, no!" Korra rushed forward and pulled at her brother's sleeve. "Please, forgive my brother." She pleaded with the grim-looking soldier. "He's suffering from a fever, he doesn't know what he's saying!"

The sergeant jumped down from his mount. "Disloyalty to the Empire is punishable by death." He grabbed Korra's chin in his hand and sneered at her. She could smell his foul breath, reeking of sour smoke. "But you're a pretty little thing. The Empire could overlook your brother's transgression if you'll...do me a favor." His eyes dipped lower and he licked his lips hungrily.

Korra leaned away, repulsed. Tarrlok pushed the man back and bent the nearby snow into water, slamming it into him. The soldier was pushed back into a snowdrift, and the villagers burst into laughter.

The sergeant scrambled to his feet, fists bursting into flames. "You'll regret that, water rats." He snarled. "Burn this village to the ground! Leave no survivors!" He barked to the other soldiers awaiting orders and sent a plume of fire at Tarrlok and Korra.

Tarrlok pulled Korra behind him and waited for the blast of fire to incinerate him, but suddenly the flames faded. A look of surprise filled the soldier's face, replaced by agony. Slowly, he rose up into the air, his body contorting unnaturally.

"NOT MY CHILDREN, YOU BASTARD!" Yakone bellowed, his face filled with rage. He made a twisting motion with his hands, and the sergeant's head twisted all the way around, the bones in the neck snapping like twigs. Yakone dropped his hands and the limp body flopped to the ground gruesomely.

Korra turned around and lost her lunch. Tarrlok had turned white. "Dad? How-"

"I trained you both how to heal using the water inside the body." Yakone said without looking at his son and daughter. "But you can do more than heal with this water; you can bend it, control people with it. My mother discovered this many years ago, when she was captured by the Fire Nation. She used it to escape and taught it to me. I used it to fight the Empire, until I accidentally hurt someone close to me. Since then, I haven't used bloodbending. Until today, that is."

"That's horrible." Korra gasped.

"I know." Yakone bowed his head. "But I have no choice." He turned to look at the other soldiers setting fire to the village. "Help people get out of here. Don't come back for me. Go!"

Tarrlok ran off to find the other villagers, but Yakone held Korra back. "Wait. There's something I need to tell you."

"Can't it wait until we get out of here?" Korra pleaded.

Yakone smiled sadly. "I'm afraid I'm not going to be leaving, Korra." He began to cough up blood, and Korra noticed for the first time an arrow sticking out of her father's side.

"DAD! Oh, spirits, no!" Korra screamed. "I can heal this! Just hold still!"

Yakone held up a hand. "I'm afraid it's too late for me. I only have a few minutes left. So please, listen to me."

Korra gripped Yakone's hand, tears falling down her face.

"Korra, you were adopted. Your father and mother were killed by the Empire when you were just two years old. Your uncle and his family also perished that day, leaving you alone in the world. Your father, Tonraq, was a good friend of mine, so I took you in." Yakone coughed up more blood. "I raised you, along with Noatak and Tarrlok, as my own. Even though you're not of my blood, you're still my daughter."

"Dad..." Korra sobbed, in shock at the revelation.

"Look after your brother." Yakone groaned. "He's all you have now. Now go, help the other villagers and get out of here. Now!"

Korra stumbled away, as her father pulled the arrow out of his body. Yakone breathed in deeply, steeling himself. He reached out with all his might, grasping at the water he felt inside the firebending soldiers. With a wrench of his hands, he snapped their bodies, breaking them like puppets. The remaining soldiers noticed their dead comrades and focused their fire on Yakone. He stopped them with waves of his fingers, lifting them up in the air helplessly. He brought them down into the ground, squashing them like insects.

More and more soldiers came, desperately trying to kill the bloodbender. Yakone concentrated, and spread his arms wide. Blood exploded from every orifice in the solders' bodies, and they fell, dried husks in armor. Yakone bent the blood into spikes and hurled them into the other soldiers, punching through armor as though it were made of cheese. Although the pain in his side was like fire, and his vision was fading, Yakone fought on doggedly, determined to buy time for the other villagers, and his children, to get away.

Meanwhile, Korra herded a family out of the village. "Go! Get as far away as you can!" She turned around to see a soldier on a rhino thundering towards her. Korra cast around for water, but the snow had all evaporated. She screamed and covered her head with her arms. A column of earth erupted from the ground and the rhino and its rider smashed into it, crumbling it into rocks. One of the small boulders struck Korra's head and she staggered. Dark spots swam in front of her eyes, growing larger until her vision turned black.

* * *

When Korra came to, night had fallen. The remains of the village were smoldering, but she didn't see anyone, so the other villagers had apparently gotten away. Korra ran back to where she had left Yakone and gasped.

Almost thirty soldiers lay dead. Some had huge gaping holes in their chests, as though they had been impaled. Others lay like broken toys, their bodies at odd angles. Worst of all were the mummified ones, their faces frozen in horror and pain. Korra retched, her stomach empty. Her father had done this, destroyed all the soldiers.

Yukon's body lay in the middle of all the destruction. Two more arrows stuck out of his chest, but otherwise he could be sleeping. Korra fell to her knees next to the man who had raised her. "Daddy..." She sobbed. "Daddy, please wake up!"

Even seeing the horrors Yakone had caused, knowing what terrible destruction he had been capable of, Korra desperately wanted him back. She stayed in the middle of those corpses for the rest of the night, crying for her father.

The next morning, Korra buried Yakone's body in the ground next to his wife. Maybe it was her imagination, but the earth seemed easier to dig, which made her wonder. Yesterday, she had thrown up her hands on instinct, and a column of rock had exploded out of the ground, as though she had earthbent. But that was impossible. No one could bend more than one element.

Korra searched the rest of the village. A few unlucky villagers had died, but the rest had gotten away, including her brother. Her heart sank. Tarrlok probably thought she was dead, and she had no way to find him. She buried the villagers that she found, and dragged all the soldiers into a pile that she set on fire. As much as she hated the Empire, she knew at least some of the soldiers hadn't wanted to be part of the army.

Somehow, Yakone's store remained intact, so Korra took as much money and supplies as she could fit in a large backpack. She didn't know where she was going to go, but she knew she couldn't stay in the ruined village. Maybe she'd try to find her brother, as impossible as that seemed. The world was so huge, and Tarrlok was just one person.

As the sun began to set, Korra walked down the road leading out of her former home. She turned around to look at it one last time. Her father was dead, her brother was lost, and her home was destroyed. There was nothing left for her.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you guys like it, please read and review!**

 **Some background info: Yakone's wife died many years ago, and Noatak was conscripted into the Sun Empire Army years ago when Korra was younger. He hasn't been heard from in ten years, so Yakone believes he died. In this world, Yakone never got into crime, he was a Freedom Fighter until he stopped bloodbending.**

 **The Earth Kingdom was** **destroyed, with only the most powerful city-states like Omashu or Ba Sing Se remaining free from the Empire's control. The Water Tribes have united in the North Pole, forming a huge and powerful city. The Fire Nation is the leading force against the Empire, being the most technologically advanced civilization. The few Air Nomads reside within the Fire Nation, protected by Fire Lady Izumi and White Lotus Grandmaster Zuko.**


	2. Book 1: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra.**

 _Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world. Years ago, Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the Fire Nation's war on the rest of the world. However, the Crown Princess Azula escaped and took direct control of the colonies the Fire Nation had established, forming the Sun Empire and continuing her forefathers' mission of global domination. Although Avatar Aang continued to fight for the remainder of his life, he never managed to restore peace to the world._

* * *

Korra poked moodily at the tiny campfire. It had been a week since the attack, and she'd been wandering around on a vague desire to get out of the Empire. She'd stayed in the forests around the village for several days, waiting to see if anyone showed up. No one came, and eventually Korra decided to head east. Currently, she was on the path to the city of Weiking, just on the edge of the Empire.

Truth be told, Korra had no clue what to do. This was nothing like the stories she'd been entertained by as a child, where the hero goes off on a quest knowing exactly what they had to do. She on the other hand, was completely and utterly lost as to what the future might hold. Her father was dead, and wasn't even her real father! The boy who she thought was her brother was gone, along with the rest of their village. And on top of all that, Korra had been feeling strange ever since that rock had hit her head during the attack.

The strange feeling that Korra was experiencing was exactly how she could sense water. One of the gifts of being a water bender: always knowing exactly where water was, and being able to reach out and take control of it. But now, that sense seemed to have gone haywire, causing her to experience that same feeling from everything below her, as though there were a giant ocean within the earth.

Korra reached out with her mind, trying to lift up whatever she was sensing. Perhaps it was her imagination, but the rocks around her seemed to shiver. Korra concentrated harder, focusing all her attention on a single stone on the other side of the fire. To her astonishment, the stone flipped over and slowly rose into the air.

More than a little frightened, Korra let the stone fall to the ground and stared at her hands. On the outside, they didn't look any different, but she had the feeling that something within had fundamentally changed.

Certain individuals were born with the ability to bend one of the four elements of water, earth, fire, and air. Korra herself was a waterbender. However, no one could bend more than one element, everyone knew that. Yet somehow, Korra had just lifted a stone into the air using nothing more than her mind! She thought back to the attack on her village.

 _Korra cast around for water, but the snow had all evaporated. She screamed and covered her head with her arms. A column of earth erupted from the ground and the rhino and its rider smashed into it, crumbling it into rocks._

Korra had thought that the memory had been a dream, or perhaps a hallucination brought on by a rock landing on her head. But what if it wasn't? The thought made her somewhat nervous, at the thought of being abnormal. All her life, anything out of the ordinary had been bad. That was just the way of the village she'd grown up in.

Korra added more fuel to the fire, unwilling to sleep. It was unlikely that the Empire would find her in the middle of the forest, but there could be more dangerous creatures like bear-tigers or saber-toothed moose. Eventually however, exhaustion overtook Korra and she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"What'll happen to her?" A boy's voice sounded, and Korra thought he sounded familiar. She looked for the boy, but didn't recognize him. He was about three years younger than Korra. He was standing in a courtyard with several other oddly dressed children, one of them chained to the ground. Blue flames burned all around them. But strangest of all, the boy had blue arrows running along his bald head and down his arms and back.

"She'll be locked up, for her own safety." Another boy, this one older than the rest of them, answered. He was wearing simple red and yellow clothing that had a large hole in the chest burned out, and had a large burn scar on the left side of his face. Korra figured they were talking about the one chained to the ground, a girl in black and gold armor alternately weeping and breathing out blue fire.

"Yeah, she's definitely gone loopy." Yet another boy, this one in dark blue and white armor, laughed.

"Sokka!" A girl in a blue tunic and skirt slapped Sokka's head. "Don't be rude!"

"You're right Sokka, she's definitely crazy, but that doesn't mean she's not dangerous." The older boy frowned and wrinkled his nose. "Wait, do you smell-"

He was cut off by a horrifying scream from the girl who'd been chained to the ground. Nearly her entire arms were engulfed in blue flames. Korra almost gagged when she saw that the metal chains on her wrists were melting, the molten iron melting off her flesh.

"Azula! What are you doing?!" The scarred boy shouted. He and the others ran toward her, but she broke free of the chains and shook off the metal. Korra could see the horrific burns and blisters all over her arms, the armor there burned away.

Azula pointed at the oncoming children with two fingers outstretched. To Korra's astonishment, an immense flash of lightning leapt from her hands toward them, accompanied by more blue fire. The oldest boy leapt in front of the others, taking the lightning directly. Somehow, he wasn't killed and managed to reach upward, and the white-hot arcs of light streaked into the sky harmlessly. In all the action however, Azula had vanished.

* * *

Korra sat up breathing quickly, her heart racing. The dream had been so vivid, she was almost convinced that it had actually happened. Korra rubbed her eyes and looked around. The sun was up, meaning that she had slept through the night without interruption. She breathed a sigh of relief that nothing had attacked her in the night.

She quickly packed the sleeping roll into her backpack, and made her way back to the main path. If she'd read the map correctly, she would arrive at Weiking within a couple of hours. As Korra walked along the road however, her thoughts wandered back to her dream. Who were those children she had seen in her dream? Strange as it was, Korra felt as though she knew them, as though they were long lost friends of hers.

With the exception of the firebending girl, Azula, that is. She was familiar also, but Korra only felt animosity from her. The sun had warmed the air, but Korra felt a chill run down her back. Privately, she was glad that girl existed only in her dreams.

Several hours later, Korra saw the tips of several buildings rise above the horizon. As she drew nearer, she began to notice a strange smell in the air. It was almost like the scent of stewed sea prunes. Once the city was fully in sight however, Korra was stopped short by the sight of a wide blue expanse beyond Weiking.

Having never ventured further than the next village from her own, Korra had never seen the ocean in person. She'd occasionally heard about the mass of water that extended as far as the eye could see from travelers passing through, but the most water she'd ever seen at any given time was the small stream that ran past her home.

Weiking was the largest city east of Ba Sing Se, and was one of the remaining Earth Cities outside of the Sun Empire's control. Even so, it maintained a strong neutral stance in the war. Located on the southeastern coast of the continent, it was just beyond the borders of the Empire, and defended by a mixed population of earthbenders and waterbenders.

The gates of Weiking were incredibly secure. In fact, as Korra approached the heavily staffed guard post, she noticed that there were no gates at all, merely solid stone wall. "What the-"

"Oi! You there! What d'you want?" One of the guards at the post shouted to her. "State your name and business, or leave!"

"Uh... I'm Korra. I'm just traveling through, need to buy food and stuff." Korra figured that was close enough to the truth. If she told them that she was on the run from the Sun Empire, they might turn her away. In any case, she needed to get further away from the Empire, perhaps as far as Ba Sing Se or even the North Pole.

The guard who'd shouted to Korra disappeared back into the post for a few moments, then reappeared with a small slate plaque with Korra's name and several other inscriptions on it. He made a few gestures with his hands, floating it through the air to Korra.

"That's your visa. You can only stay till the date on it. Return it when you leave, and don't cause trouble."

Korra frowned at her visa. She was only allowed to stay in the city for three days. "Jeez, are all city folk this mean?" She muttered as the guards bent a hole in the wall for her to pass through.

The presence of both earthbenders and waterbenders in the city made for an interesting architectural blend of ice and stone buildings that stood up to ten stories in height. Korra stared upward with her mouth hanging open, wondering how the buildings didn't collapse under their own weight. Not paying attention to where she was going, Korra bumped into another person. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Watch it." The young man mumbled before hurrying off.

"How rude." Korra rolled her eyes. "I said I was sorry. Now, where is the marketplace?"

After several hours of asking for directions and being mostly ignored, Korra finally managed to find her way to a large square crowded with vendors of various items. Given the stench lingering in the air however, Korra suspected that most of the food was well past its prime. She shrugged. At least they would be cheaper.

The young waterbender stopped at a fruit stand, and inspected the apple-pears. Most were unpleasantly soft, but she found a few that weren't terribly discolored and relatively firm in texture.

"How much for these?" She asked the vendor, holding up a full bag.

"Four yuan." The old woman grunted, and waved a fly away from her head.

Korra handed over the coins, and placed the bag of fruit in her pack. "Excuse me, which way would I-"

"Either buy some fruit or get lost." The vendor snapped moodily, her attention on the fly.

"Wha..." Korra blinked. "I just bought some fruit! Look, I just want to know where I can get some seal jerky!"

"Oh, why didn't ya just say so?" The old woman cackled. "Go to the waterfront. It's that way." She pointed in the direction of the ocean.

"Thank you." Korra sighed and headed in the indicated direction. The waterfront turned out to be a bustling port, with many ships docked and more vendors selling their wares. Korra grinned, and went off to buy as many sea prunes as she could hold in her backpack.

A thought struck Korra. She scanned the various watercraft before approaching a young man with pale green eyes and messy black hair standing next to a small sailing skiff. "Excuse me, but can I get a ride to wherever you're going?" She added hastily. "I'll pay you for it."

The young man looked rather taken aback. "Oh, uh sure, I guess. Does the southern part of the continent sound good to you?"

Korra nodded. "Yeah, that's good. How much will it be?"

The man chewed on his lip, making calculations in his head. "Thirty-five... no, thirty yuan."

Korra started to count out the coins, but the young man stopped her. "You can pay me when we get there."

"Oh." Korra raised her eyebrows. "Well, thanks! I'm Korra by the way." She held out her hand.

The young man shook the offered hand. "I'm Bolin. Nice to meet you.


	3. Book 1: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra.**

 _Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world. Years ago, Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the Fire Nation's war on the rest of the world. However, the Crown Princess Azula escaped and took direct control of the colonies the Fire Nation had established, forming the Sun Empire and continuing her forefathers' mission of global domination. Although Avatar Aang continued to fight for the remainder of his life, he never managed to restore peace to the world._

* * *

Korra was seasick. It was almost embarrassing, really. After all, she was a waterbender. The seas were her element. Yet, here she was, hanging over the side of the skiff, heaving the contents of her stomach into the ocean. In retrospect, she probably shouldn't have eaten so much at the port before they set sail.

"First time, huh?" The boat's owner asked sympathetically from the back of the skiff..

"How'd you know?" Korra groaned, before vomiting again. As she hung over the side, she eyed the faded lettering on the side of the boat. Fire Ferret.

"Happens to everyone." Bolin fiddled with the rudder. "Even Water Tribe people have to get their sea legs. Mind you, it was worse for me, being an earthbender. It just doesn't feel right, not having solid ground under me. But you get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to this." Korra grumbled. "And how'd you know I was... hurk!"

Bolin laughed. "Keep your eyes on the horizon, it'll help. You need to look at something constant, y'know? As for how I knew you were Water Tribe, well it's all in the eyes. With the dark skin and hair, you could pass for someone in the southern part of the continent, but the blue eyes are a dead giveaway."

Silently, Korra wondered if Bolin ever stopped talking. She didn't mind it, but it was hard to focus on his words while throwing up her guts. Korra decided to take the earthbender's advice and glared at the horizon. Much to her surprise, her stomach settled immediately. Korra burped rather loudly, then straightened, taking deep breaths. "'Scuse me."

Bolin snickered. "No worries, I ain't big on manners." And to prove it, he let out an even louder belch that shook the boat. "So, where're you from?"

Korra hesitated. It was an innocent enough question, but news of her home's destruction could have reached Weiking, and the Empire could very well be searching for any survivors to kill in retaliation for their soldiers. Bolin seemed trustworthy enough, so after a moment, Korra replied, "Kun. It's a village four days west of Weiking." She reached out with her waterbending, feeling the vast ocean beneath and all around her. She didn't know how to fight with it very well, but she was confident that she could turn over the boat if needed.

"Kun? Never heard of it." Bolin shrugged.

Korra relaxed. Either news of what had happened at her village hadn't reached Weiking yet, or Bolin wasn't an Empire sympathizer. Either way, she was safe. "Yeah, it's a small village. Kinda why I left."

"I get ya." Bolin smirked. "You wanna see the world, righ- AARGH!" He screamed suddenly, and Korra gaped as she saw an arrow seemingly sprout from Bolin's left shoulder.

"Surrender or die!" A new voice shouted. Korra whirled around to see another ship quickly approaching. At the bow stood a rather short figure with a mass of shaggy brown hair and crimson stripes painted on her face. Next to her was a tall man wearing a conical hat and holding a bow and arrow. "Lower your anchor or the next one goes between your eyes!"

"Pirates." Bolin spat and pulled out the arrow. Blood welled out and Korra had a brief flashback to that awful moment when she saw an arrow buried in her father's side.

Bolin's voice snapped Korra out of her fugue. "Korra, when I give the signal, get down."

Korra nodded. Bolin took off a bracelet made of several small stones. He held them in his hand, palm open and facing upward. The stones rose up and began spinning in a circle. They were moving so fast it looked like a continuous loop. Korra blinked. Perhaps it was her imagination, but the spinning stone loop seemed to be turning red. No, it wasn't her imagination, the loop was now a spinning disc of reddish orange, intense waves of heat emanating from it.

"Now!" Bolin roared. Korra dropped to the deck as Bolin swept his hand out. The burning disc spun through the air. On the pirate ship, the archer shot an arrow, but the lava circle burned it to ash. Undeterred, it kept going until it punched straight through the wooden hull of the pirate's ship. Bolin continued to gesture, controlling the lava.

The disc swept through the string of the bow and the head of the woman who had yelled at them earlier. She dropped to the floor as the lava burned a hole through the bowman's chest. The ship was starting to catch fire now, and Korra and Bolin could hear the screams of the pirates as the burning circle slashed through flesh and bone. Within seconds, the pirate's ship was in flames and sinking, and its crew was ominously silent. The lava circle returned to Bolin, cooling into the stone bracelet once more. Casually, as if he'd just swatted a fly, Bolin pulled the bracelet back on, wincing as he did so.

"Let me see your shoulder." Korra tried to keep her voice from shaking. As awful as it had been to see the pirates' fate, without Bolin doing... whatever that had been, who knows what they might have done?

Looking confused, Bolin complied. Korra reached to the ocean, pulling out a small sphere of water. Her hands were shaking quite badly, causing water to spill out, but there was more than enough. As Bolin watched with wide eyes, Korra bent the water over the bleeding arrow wound. The water began to glow, and the pain in Bolin's shoulder faded. When Korra bent the water away, there wasn't even a scar left.

"That's incredible." Bolin breathed. "Thank you." He nodded to Korra and then began steering the skiff to the pirate ship.

"What're you doing?" Korra asked, alarmed to be so close to the destruction.

"What they would've done to us." Bolin replied, jumping across the gap between the two boats. Korra watched him scan the deck before heading to the base of the ship's mast. He tapped at the wooden boards with his boot for a bit before bending over and opening a hidden compartment. Bolin's eyes lit up. "Score!" He hefted a medium sized crate. He hopped back to the Fire Ferret and lowered the box to the deck. Inside were several bottles, among other items.

Bolin grinned at Korra. "Have you ever had alcohol before?"

* * *

"And that's how I got the Fire Ferret. The guy, Tahno, called it the Wolf-Bat, but I like Fire Ferrets more, y'know?" Bolin slurred, gesticulating wildly with the bottle in his hand.

Night had fallen, and the two young adults had decided to drop the anchor for the night before opening the bottles. The pirates had quite a large amount of what Bolin claimed was good quality firewhiskey. Korra had had some beer and sea prune wine in the past, but the firewhiskey was like nothing she'd ever had before. It tasted almost sweet but had enough kick to it to be spicy. True to its name, it also burned like fire in the throat.

Korra laughed loudly at Bolin's antics. She tried to stand up, but her body was barely responding. It felt as though her mind was detached from the rest of her. "So. Tell me, Bolin. Why're you going south?"

Bolin hiccuped. "I'm looking... I'm looking for Mako. My brother. He's in the Sun Empire Army. We were gonna desert together, but he was shipped out to the south a month ago. Anyhow, back to Mako. He's a firebender. It's weird, my brother's fire, I'm earth. And neither of our parents were anything. What's up with that?! "

"Maybe you were adopted." Korra interjected. "I found out just before I left home. Turns out my real parents were killed when I was a kid and their friend took me in."

Bolin nodded knowingly. "So that's why you left."

"No, the Sun Empire destroyed my village and killed my dad. My brother's gone, spirits know where, and no one was left except me." Korra felt tears rolling down her cheeks and frowned, not realizing she'd been crying. "I hate the Empire!"

"Wow, that's awful." Bolin sniffed. "So where're you going to go? After this I mean."

"I don't know." Korra sighed, staring upward. Far, far above her, the stars glimmered cheerfully, almost as though they were mocking her plight. "Maybe I'll go find Tarrlok, if he's still alive. Or learn how to earthbend."

Bolin burst out laughing. "Earthbend? You're funny. No one can bend more than one element, and I've seen you do your healing thing with water."

"I can earthbend!" Korra shouted, annoyed. "Here, give me your bracelet."

Bolin snickered and tossed his stone bracelet to her. Korra fumbled but managed to catch it. Concentrating, she reached out with her mind. Even with the cloud of alcohol fogging her thoughts, Korra could still sense the vast expanse of her native element around her. But it wasn't water she wanted.

After several long moments, Bolin yawned. "Yeah, I don't think it's happening. Maybe you should stop-" His voice trailed off as the stone bracelet slowly lifted off Korra's palm and hung in the air, seemingly weightless. "B-but..."

Korra cackled with glee. "Told you I can earthbend." She took another swig of the firewhiskey. "Hey, Bolin! You're an earthbender. Tell ya what, if you teach me earthbending, I'll help you find your brother."

Bolin nodded wordlessly. Then his eyes rolled upward and he passed out.


	4. Book 1: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra.**

 _Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world. Years ago, Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the Fire Nation's war on the rest of the world. However, the Crown Princess Azula escaped and took direct control of the colonies the Fire Nation had established, forming the Sun Empire and continuing her forefathers' mission of global domination. Although Avatar Aang continued to fight for the remainder of his life, he never managed to restore peace to the world._

* * *

Korra woke up and immediately wished she hadn't. Even the slightest movement sent spikes of pain through her head. Her mouth felt as dry as bone, and tasted like spoiled meat. She staggered to her feet, gripping the side of the skiff with white knuckles. Her stomach heaved, and for the second time in as many days, Korra found herself leaning over the side of the _Fire Ferret_ vomiting profusely.

"Morning!" Bolin called from the rudder. "How ya feeling?"

"Fuck you...hrk!" Korra managed, before expelling more foul smelling fluids from her body.

"Hangovers." Bolin smirked. "You'll live."

Korra chose wisely not to dignify the statement with a response, and continued throwing up. Before long, her stomach was empty, and she was reduced to dry heaves.

"What a rube." Bolin chuckled quietly to himself. His smile faded when he recalled the previous night. Had it been a dream, this strange Water Tribe girl bending his stone bracelet? It had to be, Bolin thought, there's no way anyone can bend more than one element, it's simply not possible. And yet, he wasn't entirely sure.

Eventually, Korra's gut calmed down, and the pounding in her skull calmed to a dull ache. She looked to the sky, and realized that she had either woken up very late, or spent the better part of the day emptying her stomach.

"We'll arrive at Nancheng by tomorrow morning, by the looks of it." Bolin remarked as he folded away a map. "By the way..."

"What?" Korra groaned.

"Catch!" Bolin shouted as he hurled his stone bracelet at Korra's head.

The waterbender yelped in surprise and threw up her hands. As if on cue, the bracelet changed its path and streaked upward. Bolin gaped in shock as the stone dropped to the deck of the skiff with a loud clatter. "So it wasn't a dream."

Korra froze. "What did you say?"

"You really can bend earth." Bolin mumbled in awe. "How is this possible?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Korra felt queasy again as she considered her options. She could capsize the boat easily, but didn't know if she could get away fast enough to outrun the spinning wheel of lava. And even if she could, they were probably nowhere near land. Granted, she could make an ice-

"You showed me last night." Bolin recalled his bracelet. "I don't know how you can do that, but a deal's a deal. If you help me search for my brother, I'll teach you earthbending."

"Your brother?" Korra blinked in surprise. Slowly, dim memories of the previous night floated through the haze of alcohol to the front of her mind. "Mako, right?"

* * *

The city of Nancheng was the southernmost settlement on the continent. It was not as sprawling as Weiking, but what it lacked in area, it more than made up for in height. Korra stared upward at the largest buildings that stretched far above her head. They were so tall they seemed to scrape the sky. The rest of the city was no less impressive, with huge crowds of people rushing through the wide streets, and carts pulled by animals loped along. The hubbub of people's conversations and the noise of beasts neighing and braying mixed into a cacophony of sound that threatened to overwhelm Korra.

"Close your mouth, you look like a fish." Bolin snickered. "C'mon, I found out where the Sun Empire sent Mako."

Korra shut her mouth, realizing too late that she had been slack-jawed for several minutes and probably looked like an idiot. "Where?"

"Someplace in the Siwong Desert." Bolin shook his head. "I don't know what the Empire wants in the desert, but it won't be easy."

"Huh?" Korra took a moment to digest the statement. "What's a desert?"

Bolin stared at the waterbender for a minute before bursting into laughter. "You don't know what a desert is?! Man, you really are from a backwater, aren't you?"

"Shut up."

Bolin smirked. "A desert's a place that has no water. Zero. Zip. Nada. No rain, no snow, nothing. Just sand for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see."

Korra shuddered. A place with no water at all? Such a thing didn't seem possible. Water was central to life, in any of its forms. Korra had heard of droughts, periods of time when there would be little to no rain, but those always ended eventually. For there to be never any liquid falling from the heavens sounded ridiculous, especially when she had literally been on a boat in the middle of endless water for days.

Korra and Bolin headed back to the docks, weaving their way through the crowded streets. "So if we sell the _Fire Ferret_ , I reckon we can get at least seven hundred yuan. That should be enough to buy enough supplies to get to the Siwong Desert-

The earthbender's ramble was cut short as he and Korra were dragged into a dark alleyway. Before either of them could even blink, they were pinned to a wall, their bodies surrounded by a mass of dirt and stone.

"Seven hundred yuan? That's a pretty hefty sum." Korra couldn't move her head, but just out of the corner of her eye, she could see three unkempt figures standing in front of her and Bolin. The one in the middle, a tall and shaven-headed man, was speaking. "You know what I'd do with that much money?"

"Buy some soap?" Bolin grunted. "I'm sure the last time you've used any was when you dropped it in prison." He spat defiantly at the three muggers then immediately cried out in pain as the earth and dirt covering him began crushing his body. He struggled to see past the black dots that had suddenly appeared in his vision, focusing on the stone pavement under them. If he could just-

"AAAIIIEEEEE!" The robber on the left screeched in pain and horror as his lower arm disappeared in a spray of red mist. His cry was cut short however when his head soon followed. The other two backed away in fear, muttering curses. Suddenly, the tip of a blade sprouted from between the eyes of the mugger on the right, and he collapsed to the ground bonelessly.

Bolin felt the grip of earth on his body loosen as the remaining robber started panicking. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on the ground at the man's feet. Abruptly, the solid earth dissolved into lava that exploded upward and vaporized the mugger, swallowing up his burning corpse as though it had never existed. Cooling the stone, Bolin broke the bonds of earth that held him and Korra in place.

Korra fell to the ground, gasping for breath and staring in horror at the head of the first thief, which was staring sightlessly with unseeing eyes. Bolin on the other hand landed on his feet and immediately spun his bracelet into a magma circle, looking intently into the shadows.

"That was some impressive bending." A figure in green armor stepped partially into the light, hands held open in a gesture of peace. The voice was surprisingly feminine. "Relax, I'm not gonna attack you."

"What do you want?" Bolin growled, not letting his guard down. Unlike Korra, he had had a full view of the three muggers as they were killed, and he had not even seen the person who had killed them. Clearly, this person was fast, maybe even faster than he could hit. Bolin didn't know if he could pull off the lava geyser again, the effort of doing so had taken a lot out of him.

"Just trying to help some people out, is all." The armored figure stepped fully into the light now, revealing a woman with wavy black hair and a terrifyingly white face with huge red wings painted around her eyes. "You alright there?" She nodded to Korra.

"Yeah." Korra panted as she got to her feet. "Just needed a moment."

Bolin let the circle of fire cool back into a stone bracelet. "Well, thanks." He said brusquely. "C'mon Korra, we need to get going."

"Where're you going?" The woman asked, her head tilted to the side.

"None of your business" Bolin snapped, at the same time Korra replied, "The Siwong Desert." Bolin glared at his companion, who shrugged nonchalantly. She didn't see any harm in letting the woman know where they were going.

"Ooh, going on an adventure?" The woman clapped her hands in delight. "Mind if I join you?"

Bolin sighed in irritation. "I don't suppose it would make any difference if I did?"

"Nope." The woman grinned. "Well, since we'll be traveling together, we should introduce ourselves! I'm Asami."

"I'm Korra." The waterbender shook Asami's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Bolin." Bolin grumbled. He could tell already that the journey to the Siwong Desert would be a very long one for him.

* * *

 **I would say I'm terribly sorry for subjecting you all to the long wait, but I'm not. I've got a life outside fanfiction, and I'm sure you do too, or at least have other stories to be reading. I can't promise it won't be several months before the next chapter comes out, but who knows, you might get lucky. And by you getting lucky I mean I ditch my responsibilities and social ties to crunch out another episode filled with violence, gore, and badassery, thus putting my GPA and academic standing at risk.**


	5. Book 1: Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra.**

 _Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world. Years ago, Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the Fire Nation's war on the rest of the world. However, the Crown Princess Azula escaped and took direct control of the colonies the Fire Nation had established, forming the Sun Empire and continuing her forefathers' mission of global domination. Although Avatar Aang continued to fight for the remainder of his life, he never managed to restore peace to the world._

* * *

"Again!"

Korra cried out in pain as a small boulder smacked between her shoulder blades. "Ow! Really, Bolin?"

The earthbender shrugged unapologetically and held up a rock as large as his head as though it weighed nothing. "Focus, Korra. You have to be unyielding, like this stone."

"And your head." Korra muttered. She tilted her head to the side, feeling the vertebra in her neck pop satisfyingly. "We've been doing this for hours, can we take a break?"

Bolin shook his head. "Korra, you're not gonna get any better if you take breaks as often as you do." He let the large rock in his hand fall to the earth with a thud. "Whatever. It is lunchtime anyways. Hey, Asami! Is the food ready yet?" He yelled to the newest member of their party.

"Why am I the one cooking?" The swordswoman wondered aloud. "Is it because I'm a woman?"

Bolin snorted. "No, it's because you were the only one who wasn't busy."

"I bet I could teach Korra how to earthbend." Asami pouted. "And you could cook the food?"

"You don't even know how to earthbend." Bolin said slowly, as though he were speaking to a particularly slow dimwit. "And I always cook dinner anyways."

"That smells... good?" Korra tried her best to sound enthusiastic as she walked over to where Bolin and Asami were arguing. In truth, the strange mixture of game that Asami had hunted and random vegetables Korra and Bolin had bought at Nancheng smelled unappetizing at best, and nauseating at worst.

"Why thank you, Korra!" Asami smiled widely. "At least someone around here has some manners."

Bolin's mouth opened and closed several times before he put his face in his hands. "Can we just eat?"

* * *

Bolin chewed glumly on a tough piece of meat as he examined a map of the Earth Kingdom. At the rate they were traveling, it would take the three of them a week to reach the southern edge of the Siwong Desert, and another day to reach the first settlement within the dry sands. From there, he hoped there would be more information about Mako.

He heard laughter and looked over to see Asami and Korra giggling as the latter lifted a small boulder with her still amateur earthbending. The young earthbender sighed and took off his stone bracelet. Holding the little circle of rocks in his hand, he lifted the bracelet into the air with minimal mental effort. Bolin knew how to bend the earth to his will, to move stones larger than the _Fire Ferret_ , and even turn rocks into liquid. What he didn't know was how to teach that to someone else.

It wasn't as though he had had a formal education either. As far as Bolin remembered, he had always been able to shake the ground. Earthbending came as naturally to him as breathing. Using it was like moving a muscle he couldn't see. There was no other way to explain it. Lavabending had come later, but he was reluctant to let someone as inexperienced as Korra attempt using such a dangerous substance. He still had the scars from when he had burned himself, trying to teach himself how to control the flow of molten rock.

 _Damn it Bolin, you can't be this soft._ The young earthbender sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, he was lonely. Being naturally extroverted, he craved companionship. Before meeting Korra, he'd been searching for Mako on his own for several weeks, and they had been the worst time of his life. He'd always had his brother until they'd been forced into the Sun Empire Army.

And as always, his thoughts returned to Mako. Bolin's older brother. For most of their short lives, he'd been the leader, making the tough choices, doing the hard work, and protecting Bolin. Truth be told, Bolin had no clue what he was doing, though he pretended like he knew where they were going. Perhaps that was why he was teaching Korra to earthbend, so that he could at least feel like he was accomplishing something.

Back to Korra again. It hadn't even been a week since she'd hired him to take her across the ocean, and now they were traveling together like friends. Under normal circumstances he'd consider that strange, but what even was normal anyways? And speaking of not normal, how was she able to bend two elements?!

"Ow!" Bolin's train of thought was interrupted by a sharp pain in his back. He whirled around to see Asami and Korra giggling. Korra had the grace to look a little ashamed, but Asami had a wide grin on her face, and a large rock in her hand. A quick glance at the ground confirmed to Bolin that the paler girl had thrown a rock at him.

"Hey!" He shouted, but was completely nonplussed when Asami mimicked him.

"Hey!"

"What was that for?"

"What was that for?"

"Stop copying me!"

"Stop copying me!"

Bolin growled inarticulately and Asami laughed. "Oh, don't be so uppity, Bobo! We're just having fun."

"Throwing rocks at people is your idea of fun?!"

"Well, we thought you'd be able to catch it, seeing as how you're a master earthbender and all."

"I-what?" Bolin sputtered. "I never said I was a master earthbender!"

"Really?" Asami smirked. "But you're teaching Korra."

"Because we made a deal." Bolin growled. "I'd teach her earthbending, and she'd help me find my brother?"

"Um, I was kinda drunk when I made that deal." Korra said nervously.

Asami made a clucking noise. "My, my, Bolin, I didn't think you the type to take advantage of a girl when she wasn't thinking straight."

"Hey, it was still her idea! And she agreed with it when she got sober!" Bolin roared.

"Right." Asami examined her nails, seemingly bored. "On your boat. The day after you slaughtered a crew of pirates without mercy."

"I did not threaten her, if that's what you're trying to say."

"Maybe not directly, but if she didn't feel safe saying no to you, what choice did she have?"

"What?" Bolin blinked. It had never occurred to him that Korra might not have wanted to go along with him. He looked at Korra, who was eyeing him and Asami nervously. And she had good reason to. He had indeed killed an entire boat full of people, and Asami was no less deadly with that sword of hers. Korra might be able to bend two elements, but she was still the most defenseless person among them.

Bolin turned around swiftly and began stuffing the map he'd been looking at into his backpack. Hot tears of shame and anger stung his eyes, and he wiped them away quickly. "Right. I'm not gonna force anyone into anything. Good-bye."

He hadn't gone far along the path toward the Siwong Desert before he heard footsteps behind him. "Go away, Korra."

"Bolin, wait!" Korra panted. "I wasn't- you weren't forcing me into anything. I'll still help you find your brother."

The earthbender didn't turn around, choosing instead to look up into the sky. "No. I need to do this on my own anyway. I can't teach you earthbending either, Korra, I don't know how. And- and Asami is right. No matter if I didn't mean it, I did scare you into going along with me. I'm sorry."

"I wasn't scared!" Korra protested. "I mean, okay, I kinda did panic when you first mentioned it the day after, but I'm not scared now. Asami just misunderstood, and everything got twisted-"

"Goodbye, Korra." Bolin sighed, and started walking again. He hadn't gotten ten steps however, when he and Korra heard an earsplitting scream from behind them.


	6. Book 1: Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra.**

 _Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world. Years ago, Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the Fire Nation's war on the rest of the world. However, the Crown Princess Azula escaped and took direct control of the colonies the Fire Nation had established, forming the Sun Empire and continuing her forefathers' mission of global domination. Although Avatar Aang continued to fight for the remainder of his life, he never managed to restore peace to the world._

* * *

"Asami!" Korra shouted, sprinting back to the campsite.

"Korra, wait!" Bolin yelled. "We don't know what we're up against!" However, the waterbender showed no signs of stopping, so Bolin groaned resignedly and ran after her. _Why am I doing this? I was just about to leave those two behind, and Asami's a bitch anyways- damn it!_

The campsite lay in ruins, with Asami cowering in the center of the mess, sword held tightly in both hands.

"What the hell?" Bolin noticed the ground around the campsite seemed to have been torn up, as though giant hands had scooped chunks of the earth out and scattered them. "Asami, what happened?"

"I don't know!" The swordswoman looked around wildly. The ground just blew up next to me and the next thing I know, the pot is gone!" Indeed, the small cast-iron container that Asami had cooked their tasteless dinner in had vanished.

"We should probably move, in case whatever it was comes back." Korra began to gather up the remains of the campsite.

Bolin opened his mouth to say something, but felt a small tremor in the earth beneath his feet. Too small for anyone but an earthbender to notice, though Korra did look up with a puzzled look on her face. "No time for that!" Bolin's eyes widened, as he realized something was approaching them through the ground very quickly. "Move!"

The three young adults managed to dive out of the way as the earth erupted beneath them. By a stroke of luck, none of them accidentally jumped into the tooth-filled maw of the enormous creature that flew out of the ground with tremendous force.

Bolin gaped as the sand shark soared above his head to crash onto the ground and immediately began wriggling after Korra. The predator was not normally found outside the Siwong Desert, which was thought to be because it could not swim through solid earth. Clearly, that was false, since one had seemingly chewed its way through dirt to attack them. "Korra! Look out!" Bolin shouted in alarm. The sand shark was too close to the waterbender for Bolin to bend the earth beneath it into lava, lest he burn Korra as well.

Korra's eyes widened as the sand shark bore down upon her, and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Just as Bolin thought his former companion was about to become shark bait however, her eyes flashed white and an immense blast of wind burst forth in all directions from Korra, knocking everything around her back several meters.

The sand shark was not deterred however, and it leapt after Korra again. As Bolin watched in awe, the young waterbender lifted slowly off the ground, eyes still glowing brightly. The desert predator didn't seem to realize that it was outmatched, because its jaws opened wide, billowing out to their full size. Korra stretched out her hand quickly, clenching her fist as she did so, and a mound of sandy earth, as large as any Bolin could manipulate, swallowed the sand shark.

To Bolin's astonishment, a plume of scorching fire soon followed, billowing out from Korra's open mouth, bathing the earthen sphere that hung in the air. The sandy dirt quickly turned red, then orange, yellow, and finally white. Almost as if to punctate the raw power that Bolin had witnessed, Korra swept her other hand through the air, and an intense wind cooled the molten earth within seconds, leaving behind a perfect glass ball with the sand shark trapped inside like an insect in amber.

Korra floated slowly down to the ground. As soon as her feet touched the earth, the white glow vanished from her eyes, and she collapsed. "Korra!" Bolin raced over to the fallen waterbender, only slightly aware that Asami was there as well.


	7. Book 1: Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra.**

 _Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world. Years ago, Avatar Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the Fire Nation's war on the rest of the world. However, the Crown Princess Azula escaped and took direct control of the colonies the Fire Nation had established, forming the Sun Empire and continuing her forefathers' mission of global domination. Although Avatar Aang continued to fight for the remainder of his life, he never managed to restore peace to the world._

* * *

"Ow..." Korra winced as she got up. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest, as though she'd just been exercising heavily. This came as a bit of a mystery for Korra, given that she didn't remember working out recently. In fact, the last thing she remembered was- "Shark!" Korra sprang to her feet, looking around wildly.

"Gah!" Bolin jerked awake from where he had been dozing beside Korra, and knocked over a metal pan with a loud clang. "What the what-"

"What's going on?" Asami rushed in, sword drawn. She stopped short, taking in the sight of Bolin lying next to a pan of spilt food, and Korra looking very confused. "Korra, you're awake!"

"What happened?" Korra eyed her surroundings. The three of them were currently taking up all the available space in an already cramped tent. "There was a shark... thing...?"

"A sand shark." Bolin replied as he started to clean up the mess he'd made. "They're normally from the Siwong Desert, but one must've made its way over here. I'm surprised you know what a shark is."

"The fishermen from my village brought one back from their fishing trips once or twice." Korra rolled her eyes. "I'm not completely clueless, you know."

"Says the one who'd never seen the ocean till two weeks ago." Bolin snorted.

Korra opened her mouth to argue, but decided there was no point. "...Anyways, what happened to the sand shark? How'd we get away?" A thought struck her. "Hold on, two weeks ago? We left Weiking just nine days ago."

"Actually." Asami cleared her throat. "Um, well, just come look at this." She beckoned for Korra to follow her and walked outside.

Puzzled, Korra exited the tent after the warrior woman. The bright sunlight forced her to squint nearsightedly until her eyes adjusted, but as soon as they did, her jaw dropped in shock. The massive sand shark that had been attacking them now hung suspended in a sphere of solid glass. Korra turned to Bolin, who had followed the two girls out of the tent. "Bolin, how did you-"

"I didn't." The earthbender shook his head. "Korra, this was all you."

"What?" Korra blinked. "How-"

"You bent fire and air." Asami interrupted. "And your eyes were glowing too."

"That... that's not possible..." Korra mumbled, half in shock. And yet, some part of her agreed with Asami. After all, hadn't she already bent water and earth?

"Not for normal benders, no." Asami agreed. "But there's one person who can bend all four elements: the Avatar."

"The what?" Korra looked confused.

Asami stared at her. "What do you mean what? How have you never heard of the Avatar?"

"You forget, she's from the literal middle of nowhere." Bolin remarked.

The warrior woman pinched the bridge of her nose, slightly smearing the makeup. "Spirits help me... Every generation, there's one person who has the ability to bend all four elements, the Avatar."

"You've said that already." Korra waved her hand at the glass globe. "But I don't remember doing that, much less bending air and fire."

"You can bend water and earth." Bolin pointed out. No one but the Avatar can bend more than one element."

"Plus, your eyes started glowing just before you did... that." Asami pointed at the remains of the sand shark. "That's the Avatar State, something else only the Avatar can do."

Korra looked at Bolin, as if to say _can you believe this?_ , but the earthbender shook his head. "I suspected something when you could bend two elements, but the whole thing with the sand shark... I think Asami's right."

"Ok, say that I believe you." Korra crossed her arms. "Say that I am the Avatar, whatever that is. So what?"

"It's the Avatar's destiny to master all four elements and bring balance to the world." Asami said. "The Four Nations have been at war for over a hundred years, and it's your job to end the fighting."

"But... why?" Korra shook her head. "There's been war since before I was born. You said there's an Avatar every generation, right? What about the Avatars before me? Why didn't they fix things?"

"They did." Asami replied. "Before the Empire, the Fire Nation was the one fighting against the rest of the world. They killed all the Air Nomads. But Avatar Aang killed Firelord Ozai, allowing his son Zuko to take the throne and end the war. The Empire came about later."

"So what's the point then?" Korra argued. "It sounds like even if I can stop the Empire, something else will happen, and the world will just go to shit again!"

"Because you have a responsibility." Bolin spoke up before Asami could argue. "You can do something no one else can do, Korra. The Empire tries to suppress anyone from speaking about the Avatar, but even in the Empire, the Avatar is a symbol of hope. And even though bad things happen, they'll only continue to happen unless you fight to make them stop."

"I..." Korra swallowed hard. "That's not fair. I-I didn't ask... I didn't ask for this..." The enormity of the situation suddenly came crashing down on Korra. Just a few weeks ago, she'd been just an ordinary waterbender living in a small village on the outskirts of the Empire. She was nobody special, just an apprentice healer. But now, her friends were telling her that she was some all-powerful superbender destined to save the world. How was she supposed to do that?

"I know." Asami stepped forward and hugged Korra with unexpected tenderness. "But people are counting on you to save them, and you won't be alone. Bolin and I will help you."


End file.
